Lui stumbled out of the meeting room, her heart pounding against her ribs like a war drum. Something wasn’t right. Arlod had dismissed her too abruptly, too forcefully. The air in the castle felt heavier, thick with an unseen tension. It was unnatural. A dread she couldn’t place crawled up her spine, prickling her skin with unease.
Then, in the distance, she heard it. The unmistakable clash of steel, the guttural cries of men in battle.
Her breath hitched. The guest quarters.
Without hesitation, she sprinted down the stone corridors, her boots slamming against the floor. The flickering torches lining the walls cast restless shadows, as if the castle itself sensed the impending doom.
By the time she arrived, chaos had already consumed the guest quarters. Soldiers clad in green, black, a
